Upright vacuum cleaners such as wet/dry vacuums are typically provided with a power head for generating a suctioning force, a hose or suctioning wand for directing the suctioning force of the power head, and a cylindrical canister for collecting the refuse suctioned through the hose. The power head is mounted upon the canister which is in turn mounted upon some sort of wheels or casters in order to facilitate moving the vacuum during use and storage. This arrangement results in a number of stability problems. For example, although the canister must also support the power head, its main purpose is to collect refuse. Consequently, the canister is typically a hollow structure with very little mass. The power head, on the other hand, includes a motor, fan and various other components for generating a suctioning force. Thus, the power head has a significant percentage of the mass of the typical upright vacuum cleaner. As a result, the typical wet/dry vacuum is extremely top heavy and can be easily tipped. While this top heavy condition generally becomes less severe as refuse collects in the bottom of the canister, wet/dry vacuums remain substantially unstable with all but the heaviest load of refuse.
This propensity for tipping is exacerbated by the manner in which wet/dry vacuums are used. As previously mentioned, wet/dry vacuums are provided with a hose or suctioning wand for directing the suctioning force generated by the power head. A user typically moves the suctioning wand from place to place positioning the wand adjacent to the area to be vacuumed. Periodically, a user who wishes to vacuum an area which is beyond the reach of the hose will use the hose to pull the wet/dry vacuum to that area. While the casters of the typical wet/dry vacuum attempt to permit the vacuum to roll under such a force, the top heavy nature of the structure can easily cause the entire unit to tip in these circumstances. Not only can this tipping result in damage to the vacuum, but it can cause the vacuum to spill its previously collected refuse and, thus, create additional work for the user.